Items give insight into the co-op that gave Berry Gordy the loan he used to jumpstart Motown Records

Nonprofit Detroit museum has "vast collection"

Planned $50 million expansion would help museum display larger quantity of label's and musicians' histories

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Motown Museum in Detroit plans to unveil three artifacts Friday that haven't before been displayed publicly.

Motown Museum is pulling artifacts out of its collection that have never been displayed publicly in celebration of its namesake record label's 60th anniversary this year.

The new Archive Dives series begins Friday at 3 p.m. with the Facebook video unveiling of three items from Motown Record Corp. founder Barry Gordy's music-industry origins.

After the reveal, they'll be on public display in the museum from Saturday to the end of the month, according to a news release. Future Archive Dives will be announced later, occurring throughout 2019 alongside anniversary celebrations.

The three documents to be exhibited give insight into how the Gordy family's Ber-Berry Co-operative worked. The savings club gave Berry Gordy Jr. the $800 loan he used to finance his first independent record ("Come to Me" by Marv Johnson) and eventually create Motown Record Corp., which was the first African-American-owned label to get "widespread national acclaim," according to the museum's website.

The three artifacts to be displayed are:

A Ber-Berry Co-op savings account book that offers a look into the structure of the organization

The official accounting ledger that certifies the repayment of Gordy's $800 loan

Minutes from a co-op meeting on Feb. 8, 1959

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Motown Museum

A rendering of the envisioned Motown Museum expansion on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.

"We have a collection of artifacts that, due to our size and space, we don't get to share with the public," Motown Museum Chairwoman and CEO Robin Terry told Crain's. "It's just vast and it's, you know, memorabilia that documents not only the Gordy family's story, but Motown's story, the artist themselves. That's part of what this expanded Motown Museum is about. It's the opportunity to share more of those stories with the general public."

Motown Museum is in the midst of fundraising for a $50 million expansion project that would grow the museum's footprint to 50,000 square feet with interactive exhibits, a performance theater, recording studios and more retail. It would be built around the existing museum, which includes the original studio and famed "Hitsville U.S.A." sign.

The timeline for construction is dependent on achieving the fundraising goal, Terry said. They were at about $18 million as of late December.

The Motown Museum nonprofit was founded in 1985 to focus on preserving Motown music history and storytelling.